Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Thank you for those that took the time to review. Just wondering…seeing that I didn’t get a lot of reviews…should I still continue?

The Darkness that Rules

St. Vincent’s Hospital

Lyle’s still alive.

J couldn’t focus on anything else. He was curled up on his side, watching the trees sway outside in the early morning breeze. His wrist hurt and reminded him painfully of his failure last night. Hearing footsteps enter his room, he closed his eyes, deepening his breathing. He was not yet ready to face whoever it was. He didn’t have the strength to explain his choices or the reasons why.

“I know you’re awake, Gemini.”

Panic surged into his heart as a gloved hand traced his attempt through the bandage.

“No-one will interrupt us. Now open your eyes.”

Too exhausted for disobedience, he did as he was instructed. Lyle’s eyes held the same cheerful mockery it had yesterday. Nothing has changed.

Everything has changed.

“Why are you here?” He croaked, his throat raw as if he had spent days screaming.

“I was worried. I thought we had an understanding, Gemini?”

J’s head swam. Turning his gaze from Lyle, he stared out the window to the colours that had changed from orange to blue as the day grew stronger. J heard Lyle sigh and then red hot pain lanced through his arm. His scream was muffled by the man’s other hand and he turned pain-filled eyes towards Lyle.

“Now that I have your attention, Gemini, we can continue. Do you think that your death would spare your parents theirs?”

Lyle’s words opened a void inside him. All hope fled towards the vacuum and left him utterly defeated. All love, hate, emotion and certainty sped into the vacuum leaving him empty and utterly devoid of anything. He didn’t have the strength to fight anymore and he fell into the void.

How could everything be so easily broken? He was lost and Lyle knew it.

“What part of who you are do you not understand?”

“I don’t…” He closed his eyes tiredly.

Tears gathered on his eyelashes and when he opened his eyes the tears ran silently down his cheeks. Lyle took his right hand and wiped one away. “I don’t understand anything anymore…Nothing makes sense to me anymore…” he whispered, barely recognising his own voice.

Lyle slowly seated himself by J. A small smile lingered on his face. “To understand your destiny will be hard. Learning is always a painful process.”

J turned his head away from the lingering hand, not willing to admit that the man had brought comfort.

“What…” licking his suddenly dry lips, he started again, “What is my destiny?”

Lyle leaned in closer to the boy, bringing his mouth to within a millimetre of J’s ear.

“Your destiny is to be a traitor.”

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St. Vincent’s Hospital

Major Charles frowned when he noticed the door to J’s room closed. Increasing his pace, he glanced at the nurse’s station. It was empty. He had not been gone for more than an hour and he had been assured that someone would look into his son’s room intermittently. It had been the only reason he had gone home to shower and get a fresh batch of clothes. Now he wondered if he hadn’t made a mistake.

Silently opening the door, he stared at the sheets. His concern increasing he called out for his son as he entered deeper into the room His relief was immense when he heard the sounds of water from the bathroom and he knocked, calling softly. The splashing stopped and then the tentative voice of his son answered.

“I…I’m fine, dad. I’ll be out soon.”

Something in J’s voice didn’t sound right. Remembering the previous evening and where they had found J, he tried to open the door only to find it locked.

“J, open the door.”

A minute later he heard the lock click and he opened the door, half afraid to find that his son had tried something again. His shoulders visible relaxed when J’s tense face met his.

“I…wasn’t going to…”

Charles nodded, not trusting himself to reply. His son’s eyes were dark and full of despair. He ached to take the hurt away and make him whole but he had no idea how. He did the only thing he could and brought his son into a hug.

“You do know that we love you,” he whispered strongly into his son’s hair, feeling J breathing against his chest. Alive. Not half dead with his blood pumping out onto the tiles.

“We’ll make it better. I promise.”

J barely responded. A knock sounded and he turned to see a nurse placing a tray by J’s bed. Thanking her for the breakfast, he gently guided his son towards the bed.

“Why don’t you have some breakfast and I’ll see if Dr Brown has arrived yet.”

“Dad.” He turned, looking at his son. “I’m sorry.”

The apology did nothing to lessen his fear for J’s physical and emotional well-being. In fact, it did the opposite. It increased his fear that J would try again and be successful. There was a brokenness in his voice that he had only heard once in his life before from his wife when Kyle had been kidnapped. The second kidnapping had broken her completely and it had taken Emily for her to start living again.

“Why don’t I stay until Dr Brown comes looking for us.”

There was no way that he was going to leave his son alone again.

J was aware that his father had left quietly, leaving him alone with his thoughts and Dr Brown. He didn’t acknowledge the other man; instead he continued to gaze out the window.

“Do you want to go for a walk outside?”

The question caught him by surprise. It was not what he had expected, what he had prepared for. Not really caring, one way or the other, he shrugged listlessly.

You don’t belong.

He heard the chair move and then Dr Brown closed the blinds, effectively ending his view from the sun-dappled trees to light gray rows of plastic. He didn’t say anything but stood and placing his feet into slippers walked without a word out the room.

You’re a coward.

He walked till he found a bench. Leaning back, he closed his eyes, wondering at the life that was still going on around him.

Traitor.

“J, you need to tell me what you are thinking right now.”

“Why?”

He almost didn’t have the strength to even ask the question. To even care.

I’m an illusion. Not real. Not human.

“If you don’t care why, would it matter if you tell me?”

He laughed bitterly. Dr Brown had him there. Even Lyle couldn’t dispute that.

“Maybe it’s better if you don’t help me anymore.”

“Is that what you really want?”

J was silent for a long time. Despite what Lyle had said this morning, a small part of him was still raging against his choices. Still fighting.

“No.”

They sat in silence again until Dr Brown asked J softly, “If your brother had not been there, you would have died. Is that what you really wanted?”

J watched a small bird peck at the grass until with a chirp it flew off. “I long for death but even there no one is safe from me. So, for now I live. Whether in the end I choose death or not isn’t really the question you should ask me right now.”

“Then what is the question I should ask?”

“Can I be trusted?”

Dr Brown shifted, watching as a young woman walked past, pushing a wheelchair that had an elderly lady in it. He was deeply concerned by J’s attitude and words. They boy had given up and something had pushed him over the edge. He needed to get to the root if he was to be of any help to the boy.

“Why should you not be trusted?”

“Maybe you should ask Jarod that question. Then we can talk again.”

Miss Parker brought the car to a halt outside their cottage. She had finally decided to take the trip out after her phone calls were unheeded. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end when she exited the car. Her danger sense was flaring badly and she wished she had her gun with her. Something wasn’t right. She made her way carefully around the house towards the backdoor. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.

She glanced through the open kitchen door. Leaning against the wall, she counted to ten while the image of Sydney slumped over the table flared in her mind. She hadn’t noticed anyone else but that didn’t mean that the attacker wasn’t still waiting inside. She briefly wondered where Jarod was, she haven’t seen him with Sydney. Praying that her fiancée was still alive, she moved back down the sidewall towards her bedroom.

Silently entering her room through the patio doors, she made directly for the safe built into her closet. When she found the door open and the empty safe glaring back at her, she swore for the first time since Alex. Glancing around the room, she finally decided that the umbrella will have to do. Taking her shoes off, she glided towards the bedroom door. Sliding down the wall, she slowly fingered the door open until she could see the hallway. Empty.

Taking a deep breath, she took her cell phone and changed the setting to silent. Placing it on the floor, she moved out the room, every sense alert for the slightest sound. Closing each door of the rooms she inspected, she moved down the hall towards the kitchen. Ten minutes later she had determined that it was only Sydney and she did were in the house. Moving with haste, she grabbed her phone from the bedroom and the first aid kit.

A sigh of relief left her when she felt the faint beat against her fingers. Flipping her phone open, she started dialling.

“Major Charles, I need an ambulance at my place. Sydney‘s been hurt.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know yet. I’ll speak to you at the hospital.”

Closing the connection, she dialled a second number, knowing that the Major would do as she had asked.

“Broots, I need you to check the mainframe for any directive against us.”

“We did it yesterday. They were still in the dark regarding…”

“I don’t care what happened yesterday. I want you to do it now. Phone me when you’re done and then get Debbie and meet me at the hospital.”

She didn’t wait for his reply and she closed the phone.

The kitchen was a mess. She had stepped around a spot where flour had been spilled. Two footprints were edged into the white dust and going back to her room, she grabbed a camera. Placing the umbrella next to it, she took photos of the imprints. She could only deduce that whoever the attacker had been, had probably hit Sydney and had then waited for Jarod. Her fiancée had not waited to check if he was alone and when he had bent over Sydney, the attacker must have taken him from behind. From the scuff marks and broken cutlery, she could see that Jarod had not made it easy. But he had been taken.

She wondered if it really could have been the Centre. From experience, she knew that the Centre would have not just taken Jarod. They would have made sure that his whole family joined him as a means to control him. No. This was something different. Her brother came to mind but she dismissed it. He was dead. She had been there when he had been shot. And even if he had survived the Centre would have made sure he didn’t. Even while she thought this, she was flipping the phone open, and dialling the second number again.

“Check for anything on my brother.”

Leaving Broots still gulping air, she ended the call. It wouldn’t hurt just to make sure.

She followed Sydney as far as she could before she was stopped by a nurse. Turning from watching him being wheeled deeper into the hallway, she stepped towards where Charles and Margaret were just arriving.

“Is he going to be all right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where’s Jarod?” Margaret asked, watching Miss Parker. She didn’t like the taut lines that seemed to stretch across Miss Parker’s face.

“He wasn’t at home and from the mess I’m pretty sure that he has been kidnapped.”

“The Centre?” Charles asked, his mind already moving towards getting his family to safety.

“No, I don’t think so. I’m having Broots checking the mainframe but if it had been the Centre, I don’t think we would be standing here, speculating. We would be in a town car on our way to Blue Cove.”

“Who else would want to hurt Sydney and kidnap Jarod?” Charles asked white faced. Miss Parker didn’t miss the supportive arm that he put around Margaret nor his wife’s intake of breath. She had pushed her concern for what might be happening to Jarod to the background to deal with Sydney and for now, she needed to keep it there is she wanted to make a stab at finding Jarod. She needed to be the Ice Queen again.

“Jarod had made some enemies from the people he had brought to justice with his pretends. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of people that wouldn’t mind getting their hands on him.”

Charles nodded and pulled his wife closer. Having her next to him helped. “I don’t understand. We were careful. How could something like this happen and especially now?”

Something clicked in her mind. “Who’s with J?”

“Emily. She landed this morning and had volunteered to stay with him till we get back. You don’t think he might be in danger?”

“I don’t know. J’s actions of yesterday are not adding up. Why would he try to take his own life when it had seemed that he had been making progress? I think we need to have a talk with him.”

Taken aback by her change of topic, Major Charles stared. “What. Now?”

“The sooner, the better. If we are going to make decisions we need to have all information available. I just think that J might now what is going on?”

“Why do you think that?” Major Charles asked angrily, “J’s been having a hard time for a while now. It’s not as if yesterday was all that different except for last night.”

“Precisely,” she retorted, “Why suddenly decide to kill himself when he had never tried it before or even hinted at it. Think about it, Major. What happened with J in-between the time he had left for school and the time he had come home? I’ve asked around. No-one has seen him. Where did he go?”

Margaret looked at her husband. She could see him aging in front of her as the worry for Jarod and now the increased concern for the youngest son grew. “Charles, I agree with Miss Parker. I think we should ask J what happened yesterday.”

Major Charles nodded dejectedly. He didn’t want to dwell on what could possible have happened. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

When J looked at the trio that entered his room, he knew. He knew that they suspected something.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?”

“Who is, J?” Margaret asked, her stomach sinking at the knowing look in her son’s eyes.

“Jarod. That’s why you’re here.”

“How do you know that?” Miss Parker didn’t hide the suspicion while she stepped closer to the bed. Emily was staring wide mouthed at her parents, Miss Parker and J.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked, rising from her seat.

“Why don’t you tell us, J?”

“If I do you’re all dead. Do you want that, Miss Parker?”

“Who said that?” Miss Parker managed to utter, her eyes deepening with anger.

J shook his head, averting his eyes to stare at his hands. Miss Parker stepped towards the bed and he flinched when she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her.

“Who?”

Their staring contest was interrupted by a harried Broots that chose to enter the room at that precise moment. Miss Parker turned her head when he spoke her name.

“Miss Parker. You were right. Y…your brother…he…he’s still…”

“Alive,” she finished, straightening from J’s guilty and fear filled face to look at Broots. “So he managed to fake his death, yet again. Why can’t he just do the right thing and die for once.”

Broots didn’t answer, instead started to explain that he had come across Lyle’s name in some obscure file that had been tucked away deep into the mainframe. It seems that Raines had wanted his own revenge and had denied the Triumvirate directive to terminate Lyle’s contract.

“So how did my brother managed to escape his keeper?”

“He…he didn’t. He was released by a new director that had replaced Mr. Raines. No-one has heard from Mr. Raines since then.”

Miss Parker turned back to J. “What did you tell my brother?”

J didn’t answer. She repeated her question, more heatedly. It was Margaret’s hand on her arm that stopped her from physically forcing an answer out of J.

“I think it’s better if we talk to J. Why don’t you go and see how Sydney is doing.”

Miss Parker wanted to protest, to tell Jarod’s mother that she wasn’t about leave her only answer to her fiancé and her brother’s whereabouts but sanity prevailed. She knew the stubborn streak of Jarod and it was just as strong in the boy. Turning on her heel, she stalked out the room, hoping that J’s parents can get him to talk. Otherwise, she will.

Awareness came gradually. Slowly. He was laying on his side, the numbness on his left shoulder and hip telling him that he had been left in that position for a while. His nose was pressed against the ground, the dust clogging his nostrils uncomfortably. His hands were bound tightly behind his back. He could feel the rough texture of the rope rubbing against his skin. Similarly, he could feel the same tightness around his ankles. Fear left him frozen when he found that he couldn’t see anything until he moved his head slightly and felt the slick material pulled tight across his eyes, leaving him blind. Quelling his rising panic, he bit down on the rag that effectively gagged him. What amazed him was the lack of sound. Nothing penetrated in his drug-induced haze as he came more fully awake. It took him another minute before he felt the earplugs in his ears. Inwardly frowning, he tried to make sense of what had happened.

Sydney lying comatose…

Arms grabbing him from behind…

Could it be that the Centre had found them? Fear for his parents, his fiancé and the rest of the group coursed through him. They had been careful. Broots and he had checked regularly into the mainframe for any directives issued regarding the Centre’s search for them. The last time they had checked was yesterday and the Centre was still in the dark regarding their whereabouts. Could he and Broots have made a mistake?

Warm patches on his skin made his aware that he was shirtless and that he had to be somewhere outside. The heat was starting to make him uncomfortable and he shifted. Small pieces of stone dug painfully into his side but he ignored it. He tried to move his hands, testing the leeway of the ropes but there was none. The rope dug into his skin – his skin became slippery with blood – but they did not give. He stopped, lying still as sweat trickled down the side of his face. He needed to think, to try and find out why he had been taken and by whom.

Concentrating, he turned to his only senses that were left. A soft movement of air against his skin brought with it different smells that filled his nostrils. From the mix he knew that he had to be in a woodland area, that and the combination of warm and cold patches on his skin confirmed it. He didn’t want to think of how many areas across the States were forested and with no idea what time it was he didn’t even want to begin to speculate how far away from home he was.

He grunted, gritting his teeth when a boot sank into his ribs. He felt the ropes around his legs jerked roughly and then his legs were free. Not knowing what to expect next, he lay with his muscles tense. A hand grabbed him around his bicep, pulling him upright into a kneeling position. His lower body was ensconced in a pair of jeans; he could feel the material against his body. His had some kind of work or hiking shoe on, he thought, testing the weight. He tried to pull away from the touch, and was rewarded with a painful blow to his head. Breath left him as he stuck the ground. His head rung and blood ran down his cheek.

Once again he was pulled upright until he sat in a kneeling position on the uneven ground. He barely had time to compose himself when he felt something metallic slip around his neck. His skin was crawling with dread that had been building since he had waked. Blind and deaf, he had no way of protecting himself. He was scared, he had to admit it. He had never been this helpless.